The Lamp in a Dark Place - 2 Peter 1:16-21 - November 21, 2021

 2 Peter 1:16-21 The Lamp in a Dark Place

Good morning! We are back in 2 Peter and we are going to focus on verses 16-21 this morning, and that’s on page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

Though we are going to focus on verses 16-21 I want to go back to verse 12 so that we can get a running start, set some context, and remember Peter’s purpose in writing this letter.

So let’s look at that together.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Let’s pray.

So for the last few weeks we have been talking about the qualities that we should add to our faith and what it looks like to mature as disciples of Jesus Christ. But that was not Peter’s sole purpose in writing to the church.

Peter wanted to remind the church of what was most important, and he made every effort to make sure that the church would be able to recall these things even after he had died.

But the things that he wanted the church to remember was not just how to behave, not just what kind of building materials to use, the gold, silver, and precious stones, but to also remind them of the very foundation that they were to build on.

The church needed to be reminded of these things back in the First Century because, as we will see when we get to chapter two, false teachers were trying to deceive Christians to follow after them, to abandon what they had  learned and pledge allegiance to them and their falsehood.

Praise God this teaching was preserved because the same thing is happening today.

Peter gave the church two reminders of the sure foundation of the truth that they had been taught: the word of credible witnesses, and the Word of God Himself.

This text was Peter’s reaffirmation of the truth, the foundation on which we stand by faith, and the ground he stood on to defend the church from the false teachers in chapter 2.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

What is Peter talking about? The Transfiguration of Jesus.

Let’s look at Peter’s own account of this through the pen of Mark in Mark 9.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 

2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 

9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

In any court of law cases stand or fall on the word of eye witnesses. Peter was an eye witness of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus.

He witnessed the majesty of Jesus when His face was changed and His clothes became intensely white. He witnessed it when Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father when He spoke from the cloud and said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.”

Peter is telling the church, “we didn’t make this up, me and James and John, we saw this with our own eyes, and we heard with our own ears God Himself declared that Jesus is His Son. This was no cleverly devised myth, this is the truth.”

Peter was an eye witness, he was there when Jesus walked on water, he was there when he fed the five thousand, he was there when Jesus gave sight to the blind and raised the dead and healed the lame, he heard Him preach good news to the poor.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

And then, as Alistair Begg put it, “Peter did what all good pastors must do: point men and women back to the Bible.”

Not only do we have the word of eyewitnesses but we also have the Word of God. 

19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin wrote, “The truth of the gospel is here simply proved by a twofold testimony, that Christ had been highly approved by the solemn declaration of God, and then, that all the prophecies of the prophets confirmed the same thing.”

The prophetic word that Peter mentions here was specifically what we call the Old Testament. Peter declares that the Word of God was more sure than even his own testimony and the truth of the promise of Messiah in the Old Testament was confirmed by its fulfillment in Jesus.

I know that I don’t do a lot of preaching out of the Old Testament, but please don’t ever take that as that it has no value or is not important anymore.

Matthew Henry wrote, “Read the Old Testament as a prophecy of Christ, and with diligence and thankfulness use the New [Testament] as the best exposition of the Old [Testament].”

We have the gospel testified to by the Apostles in the New Testament and the gospel confirmed by the prophets in the Old Testament.

Jesus is on every page of Scripture, both New and Old Testaments and we need to pay attention to it as a lamp in a dark place.

The word Peter used for a dark place means: squalid, miserable, filthy darkness.

This is not only the world that we live in but it is the condition of our hearts apart from Christ, there is no one who is good in and of themselves but we have the Word of God that shows us the light, it shows us who Jesus is and what He did for us and what He is continuing to do for those that trust in Him.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

And we will have that light as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path as it says in Psalm 119:105, we will have that light until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts.

This phrase is a subject of lots of debate. But as we have seen, Peter is writing to believers, to people that already have faith in Jesus Christ, so that day dawning and the morning star rising can’t mean when people come to faith in Jesus. 

So if that isn’t it, what could it be?

We have the light of the Word of God, both Old and New Testaments, given by God Himself as Peter says there in verses 20-21, as a lamp to navigate this filthy darkness and squalid misery of this life now, and when Jesus returns the day will dawn and the Morning Star will rise in our hearts. 

Jesus said in Revelation 22:16, “I am the Root and Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.”

When the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts is the dawning of eternity at Christ’s return, when we shall see Him face to face, not in a glass darkly, on that day we will know Him fully even as we are fully known.

How do we know that all this is true? Because the Bible says so and the Bible is from God Himself and God the Holy Spirit is the best interpreter of His own words.

20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

I want to close with Peter’s short sermon to Cornelius and his household from Acts chapter 10 where he covers all that I have said so far just much more briefly…

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

This is the simple gospel, predicted by the prophets, witnessed by the Apostles, preserved in God’s Word, the Bible, and proclaimed to you today.

Amen.

Power and Progress pt3 - 2 Peter 1:10-15 - November 14, 2021

 2 Peter 1:10-15 Power and Progress pt3

Good morning! We are continuing our work through the second letter of the Apostle Peter. Today we are going to look at verses 10-15 of chapter one, page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

We have been looking at this first section of Peter’s second letter to the elect exiles of the dispersion which, in the First Century were the churches spread throughout Northern Turkey. But praise God, He has preserved His Word so that we can read it almost two thousand years later just as it was first delivered and translated into our own language!

I know that I said that we are going to be looking at verses 10-15, and we are, but we can’t look at just those verses without examining them in their context so we are going to read verses 3-15 so that we can try to preserve the continuity of the context of our text for this morning.

Let’s look at it together.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Let’s pray.

Early on in the life of our little church family the elders adopted a statement that became a kind of measuring stick for everything that we do as a church family. If somebody had an idea to do something and it didn’t really fit with our little phrase we didn’t do it. We haven’t done it perfectly, and I’m sure if you’ve been around for a while you could make a case that there have been things that we have done that didn’t fit. Sorry about that.

Making and maturing disciples was that original statement, later amended to: Making and Maturing Disciples Together as a Family.

If there was an idea that didn’t fit that statement, we don’t do it. Simple.

What isn’t simple is what exactly “maturing disciples” means. Or at least it may not appear that way at first.

Making disciples is easy enough to understand, calling people to faith in Jesus through the gospel. When a person puts their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin they become a Christian, a disciple of Jesus.

And that begins the journey of maturing as a disciple, meaning that once a person is saved, they are just beginning not ending their journey. We don’t simply board the cruise ship called salvation and sit on the deck waiting patiently until we arrive at Heaven’s port.

As we discussed last week, we are not passengers on a cruise ship but we are crew members on a battleship, each expected to do their part to serve the captain and the crew and rescuing those around us that are drowning in their sin and welcoming them aboard to become part of the crew through faith in Jesus.

Peter laid out a list of qualities that are to be added to our faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. All born from faith.

He said in verse 8-9, 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Having and increasing in these qualities are what maturing as a disciple looks like. Once we come to faith in Christ it is our responsibility to learn and grow and increase these qualities in our lives, when we don’t we become ineffective and unfruitful, when we don’t, we willfully close our eyes to the truth of our salvation having forgotten that we have been forgiven of all our sin.

Now, all of that to bring us to our text for this morning.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There is so much we could talk about here! Lots of people have!

Peter uses some of the same words several times in this whole text, one of which is the word for “diligent.”

When he wrote in verse 5 to “make every effort,” it is the same word as he used in verse 10, only here he admonishes the church to kick it up a notch, “be all the more diligent.” He uses it again in verse 15 saying that he will make every effort.

So just as the church is to be diligent to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, we are to be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure.

This phrase has often been separated from its context and that hassled to a great deal of confusion about what Peter really meant when he said it.

Calling and election are two thoughts that go hand in hand, one dependent on the other. The main idea is that of election, in which God, in His sovereignty and grace, chose people out of the world for Himself, and then, in His omnipotence and grace, called them to faith in His Son, not based on anything that we had done to deserve it but based solely on his grace.

These are ideas of much debate but the Bible is quite clear on this truth.

But if we leave it all alone by itself, “be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure…” It would seem like God needs further convincing, like we need to show Him that we really are saved somehow.

Friends, God is not the One that needs convincing!

If you have faith in Jesus Christ it’s because God, in eternity past, willed it so, and when the time was right, he called you to faith in His Son, you were made a disciple.

But now that you are a disciple you need to mature as a disciple, you need to grow in your faith. This is not an abstract idea of impossible to measure mystical growth.

Listen to the verse again with more context…

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

JP Lange wrote, “depend not on the case of the dying thief.”

The dying thief was the one crucified next to Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him in His kingdom and Jesus told him that he would be with Him in paradise.

That should be an encouragement for those who are converted on their deathbed, that it is never too late for someone to be forgiven of their sin through faith in Jesus. It is not, however, an excuse for us to wait until the last second to live for Christ.

Being diligent to add the qualities to our faith of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love is how we make our calling and election sure, it’s how we confirm it to ourselves and those around us.

The Christian life requires God’s grace for our salvation and our diligence to live it out.

Calvin wrote, “Labor that you may have it proved that you have not been called nor elected in vain.”

Paul addressed this idea in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15,

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Through faith in Jesus Christ the boat we are on will make it one day to Heaven’s port, and our diligence to mature as disciples, to add these qualities to our faith, will determine the reception we receive there and whether we come in to port with our flags unfurled and welcomed in like Olympic champions or if we come paddling in clinging to a plank like we escaped a shipwreck. 

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Amen.

Power and Progress pt2 - 2 Peter 1:5-9 - November 7, 2021

 2 Peter 1:5-9 Power and Progress pt2

Good morning, you came back! Welcome! I tried to warn you but here you are!

We are continuing through 2 Peter with chapter 1 verses 5-9 this morning, page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

Last week we looked at verses 3-4 and talked about what God has provided for believers in Jesus Christ with the promise that this week we would talk about what He expects from believers in Jesus Christ. 

So let’s look at that whole text, 2 Peter 1:3-9 so we can get that whole picture and then we’ll pray.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Let’s pray.

I don’t know who said it first, or who used the illustration first, but there has been a comparison made of the church to a ship, actually two different kinds of ships, and our attitude about it determines what kind of ship that we think we are on.

Here is what I mean: When you hear verses 3-4 and stop there, there’s a danger that you may perceive the church to be the first kind of ship.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Through faith in Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven, you board the boat, you have been promised everything that you need for life and godliness, you have been granted His great and precious promises, you get to be a partaker in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world.

It sounds like a cruise ship, get out your Hawaiian shirt, or put on your sundress and ridiculously big hat and sunglasses and sit back and relax. There’s nothing more to do than to soak up the “Son” shine and wait to arrive at your heavenly destination.

It seems a little silly but that is exactly what the church is guilty of, just boarding the boat is the goal, we’re saved from the corruption of the world, our sins are washed away and now we can just cruise. 

We expect to be served, we expect our room to be cleaned, and for there to be plenty of deck chairs for us to chose from, and lots of food to eat, all we have to do is show up.

That’s what you do on a cruise ship, so I hear.

But the church is not like a cruise ship. The church is more like a battleship.

When a sailor boards a battleship they have responsibilities, they are expected to contribute, they are expected to serve the ship and its crew, they are expected to train so that they can know and do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

Preacher that sounds like work! Exactly.

What’s the main difference between the passengers of a cruise ship and the passengers of a battleship?

One consumes, the other contributes.

The idea that God actually has expectations of His children is not  popular, it’s not easy, but it is the truth.

James 2:18-19 says, “…someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

So what is it that God actually expects from believers, what are the works that James was talking about?

Peter gave us a nice list. Some call this the ladder of virtues because they think that each one builds on the one before it but in reality this list is more like fruits on the tree of faith. If I hadn’t named this sermon something else already I might call it, “The Seven Fruits on the Tree of Faith.”

God the Father has done His part and now is expecting us to do ours. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness and so now He expects progress, He expects diligence from us.

In our family we have a saying, “the secret ingredient is effort.” Here in our text, the Lord clearly agrees.

5 For this very reason, [the fact that you are partakers in the divine nature through faith in Jesus] For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,

Remember first of all that faith is not just belief, it is not just agreeing with facts. Faith means trust, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for the direction of our lives.

Forgiveness of sin gets us on the boat, but if that is all we trust Jesus for we are in essence demanding that He serve us while we sit and soak up the sun. When we trust Jesus as not only Savior but Lord, we take our orders from Him not the other way around.

This is what James meant in James chapter 2 when he said, “I’ll show you my faith by my works.”

How we act and what we do will not earn our salvation, but how we act and what we do will prove that we are saved.

So Peter tells us to make every effort to supplement that faith with virtue. 

Virtue means moral excellence, moral excellence as described by God in His Word not by the world. The world’s standards are constantly changing and changing for the worse, God’s standards do not change and they never will. We are to live lives, as Calvin put it, “that are honest and rightly formed.”

Virtue is the first of the seven fruits of the tree of faith. And we are to add to virtue knowledge.

This is knowledge of Christ and our relationship with Him and our responsibilities as His disciples. This is not philosophical or mystical, this is practical and experiential. This is not just knowing Jesus but knowing how to act because we know Jesus. This is the source and fruit of our faith.

The fruits of the tree of faith are virtue, knowledge, and also self-control.

Self-control is to have command of one’s desires and actions, lusts and passions. Self-control is what makes athletes successful, they exercise self-control when they say no to the passions of their flesh, when they choose to eat spinach instead of pie, when they say no to binging another episode of Tiger King and go for a run. 

Paul said that the athlete exercises self-control for a crown that fades but we do it for a crown that will never fade.

Alistair Begg said that self-control is the ability to appropriately handle the pleasures of life while the next fruit on the tree of faith, steadfastness, is the ability to appropriately handle the problems of life.

Steadfastness is perseverance under abuse. Henry Alford said this is, “not to be mere stoical endurance but united to and flowing from trusting God.”

True steadfastness acknowledges that God is in control no matter how difficult the circumstances. Sometimes we are quick to say, “God’s got this,” and we do so almost not believing it but nothing could be more true. True steadfastness is based on and borne from trust in the Lord, nothing is outside of His power and control. 

He is not lacking in power, sometimes we are just lacking in perspective.

Make every effort to add to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and godliness.

Godliness gets a bad rap. The world sees godliness right up there with uselessness. But in truth, godliness is intensely practical. Godliness allows the consideration of God to control the whole of life, honoring Him and seeking His approval.

Godliness asks the question, “What does God say about whatever it is I’m thinking about or dealing with? Does God approve of this action or that action?” Godliness cares about what God thinks!

The last two fruits on the tree of faith here go hand in hand, brotherly affection and love.

Brotherly affection, Philadelphia, is the fervent, practical caring for others within the church family. It is faith in Christ and adoption by God that makes us brothers and sisters and it is that same faith that should motivate us to care for others like us.

Love, on the other hand, agape, is universal kindness toward everybody, desiring the highest good for others in spite of our differences, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

These are all nice things, aren’t they? It’s a nice list… can we close in prayer please before the other shoe drops?

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Cruise ship Christianity is ineffective and unfruitful. The attitude of all saved, all set, kick back and watch the waves roll by until we reach heaven, dishonors the Lord Jesus Christ.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, what he expects from us is progress, what He expects from us is that these qualities are ours and increasing, that what is actually growing is our faith, our virtue, our knowledge, our self-control, our steadfastness, our godliness, our brotherly affection, and our love.

If you are the same as you were five years ago, if these qualities are yours but are just in the bud stage of fruitfulness, it’s time to add the secret ingredient: effort.

The English translation of what Peter says about nearsightedness is a little weak here. A little better way of saying this is that “whoever lacks these qualities has intentionally closed their eyes so that they are blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from former sins.”

One commentator wrote, “The continually present sense of one’s sins having been once for all forgiven is the highest stimulus to every grace.”

And Calvin adds, “Though we daily sin and God daily forgives us we ought not let sin rule in us but the sanctification of the Spirit ought to prevail in us.”

The simple fact of the matter is, not growing in these graces that Peter describes is a choice and it is a sin. It is a choice to shut the eyes of the spirit to that which is disagreeable. It is a choice to remain a lifelong baby Christian, to focus only on the earthly stuff that is right in front of our faces and not on what is distant, the heavenly things.

But if you’re left thinking that these things are great and I’d like to grow in them, “I’d like for this fruit to grow in my life but I feel powerless to do anything about it,” you’re right you don’t have the power to do it on your own…

 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Amen.